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Understand everything about the agreement between the United Kingdom and Rwanda on immigration

2022-12-19T16:59:55.083Z


This very controversial measure, announced last April under the mandate of Boris Johnson, makes it possible to send illegal migrants to Rwanda in complete legality, regardless of their nationality.


  • British justice gave the green light on Monday to the deportation of asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom to Rwanda, a project launched last April.

  • This decision comes several months after the appeal of associations and the European Court of Human Rights.

    Now, the government of Rishi Sunak will be able to start its anti-immigration policy as it wishes.

  • 20 Minutes

    returns to this very controversial measure denounced by NGOs but encouraged by the English right and far right.

On Monday, the British High Court of Justice validated the plan to deport asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom to Rwanda.

This very controversial measure, announced last April under the mandate of Boris Johnson, allows illegal immigrants to be sent to Rwanda in all legality, regardless of their nationality.

"We welcome this decision and are ready to offer asylum seekers and migrants the opportunity to build a new life in Rwanda," Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said in a statement. "positive" measure to solve the global migration crisis.

20 minutes

returns to the decision of the British justice while the first planes to the Rwandan capital Kigali could take off soon.

What happened this Monday in the UK?

British justice has given the green light to the deportation to Rwanda of asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom, a highly controversial project that the government wants to deploy as soon as possible.

The High Court in London ruled the scheme "legal" and found that the government's provisions did not contravene the Geneva Refugee Convention.

Why did London introduce this measure?

Illegal Channel crossings are the bane of the Conservative British government and regularly cause tension with France, where many migrants want to reach England.

Since the beginning of the year, around 45,000 have thus arrived on the English coast, compared to 28,526 in 2021. And four migrants, including a teenager, died while attempting this crossing on December 14.

By sending migrants who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom to Rwanda, more than 6,000 km from London, the Johnson government therefore intends to deter illegal crossings of the Channel.

"Criminal groups that put people's lives in danger in the Channel must understand that their economic model will collapse under this government," Boris Johnson justified on LBC radio last June.

How will this agreement with Rwanda work?

Following the announcement of British justice, "any person entering the United Kingdom illegally" after January 1, 2022 could now be sent to Rwanda, with no limit on the number.

Deportations to Rwanda are "only part of our plan" against illegal immigration, the head of government nevertheless explained to British television.

The fact remains that Rishi Sunak, who as the BBC raises, leads a policy similar to the last English Conservative Prime Ministers, promised a “system where, if you arrive in the United Kingdom illegally, you will not have the right to stay”.

Under its agreement with Kigali, London will initially finance the system to the tune of 120 million pounds (140 million euros).

For its part, the Rwandan government has specified that it will offer migrants the possibility of “setting up permanently”.

Last June, British Interior Minister Priti Patel welcomed this agreement allowing illegal immigrants to "rebuild their lives in complete safety".

It should be noted that at the beginning of the year, Boris Johnson and his government would have sought to conclude agreements with third countries where to send asylum seekers who arrived illegally.

Rwanda and Ghana had been mentioned, but Ghana strongly denied in January that it was in discussions with the United Kingdom on the subject.

What are the reactions?

“We have always maintained that our policy towards Rwanda was legal, and I am happy that this has been confirmed today,” Rishi Sunak said on Monday following the announcement by British justice.

The Labor opposition, meanwhile, expressed its disappointment and anger.

The civil servants' union PCS (present in particular in the border police) considered that the government project remained "morally reprehensible and totally inhuman", believing that an appeal should "seriously" be considered.

For its part, Amnesty International considered it "shameful" that "the government refuses to recognize that the more it invests in cruelty, punishment and deterrence, the more it endangers desperate people who have no safe option. to get to the UK.

The Refugee Council found that this "cruel" policy of equating "people seeking safety with human commodities" was damaging to the UK's reputation as a country of human rights.

On the Rwandan side, the authorities justify this partnership by invoking the well-being of illegal immigrants.

The objective for them being to allow immigrants that they "be protected, respected and that they can realize their own ambitions and settle permanently in Rwanda if they wish", as explained in June last Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta.

When will the evictions start?

After appeals from various associations and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) before the English courts, the evictions were never able to begin.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees even intervened in the case before the High Court, arguing that "the minimum components of a reliable and fair asylum system" are lacking in Rwanda and that such a policy would lead to "serious risks of violations" of the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees.

A first flight scheduled for June had been canceled after a decision by the ECHR which effectively called for a thorough review of this policy.

our file on rwanda

With this new decision and the very right-wing Interior Minister Suella Braverman, who had expressed her "dream" of seeing migrants deported to Rwanda, Rishi Sunak, who wants to implement this project "as soon as possible" , the first planes to the Rwandan capital Kigali could take off soon.

Justice, however, asked the Ministry of the Interior to review its copy concerning eight migrants who opposed their deportation to Rwanda.

The "Home Office" has not sufficiently examined their personal situations to determine whether there are elements concerning them which would oppose their deportation to Rwanda.

For the moment, no date for a first flight has been communicated by the British executive and the associations have until January 16 to appeal the decision.

Still, the boss of the “Home Office” declared that her teams were ready “to defend themselves again against any legal action”.

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  • World

  • Rwanda

  • Boris Johnson

  • UK

  • Rishi Sunak

  • Amnesty International

  • Illegal immigration

Source: 20minf

All news articles on 2022-12-19

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